Devices that use a vacuum suction cup, or a plurality of vacuum suction cups, to separate the bottom most sheet article from a stack formed of a plurality of like sheet articles in a gravity fed hopper are known. The use of vacuum means, alone, to separate the bottom sheet from a stack of sheets has been found disadvantageous, however, as the leading edge of the separated bottom sheet cannot be consistently guided to the feed rollers used to transport the separated sheet from the device, thereby causing the jamming of the device.
The use of various guide means for guiding the leading edge of the separated sheet to a feed means for feeding the separated sheet from the device is also known. Devices employing such guide means, however, have required the use of a number of control members and sensors to coordinate the movement of the separator means and guide means, to insure that the components operated in a synchronized manner. As a result, such devices contain a number of relatively delicate parts that are easily moved out of alignment in use, are bulky, complex and expensive to produce and maintain.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a device that overcomes the aforementioned problems. More specifically, it is the object of the invention to provide a device that can effectively separate the bottom sheet from a stack of sheets, and guide the separated sheet from the device for dispensing, the device having a minimal number of parts, and requiring no sensors to synchronize the operation of the separating means and guide means. It is a further object of the invention to provide such a device in which movement of the separating means and guide means are controlled by a single, common cam, thereby simplifying the construction of the device, while insuring synchronous operation of the various components.